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2 thoughts on “(Whose?) Happy Holiday”

“While the popular notion of the American Thanksgiving is less than 400 years old, the turkey has been part of American lives for more than 2,000 years. But for much of that time, the bird was more revered than eaten.
Washington State University archaeologists over the years have repeatedly seen evidence, from bones to blankets to DNA extracted from ancient poop, suggesting that the Pueblo people of the Southwest bred turkeys as far back as 200 B.C.
“Turkeys were an important bird symbolically and in practical ways as a source of feathers that kept people warm in the winter,” said Bill Lipe, a WSU professor emeritus of anthropology with decades of experience in the area. “And they were also important as a food source, probably primarily at periodic feasts and ritual gatherings.” https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-11/wsu-twa112216.php

On Thanksgiving, U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (Dem N.M.) called on President Barack Obama and the Army Corps of Engineers to reroute the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline and condemned the response by police to protests. http://nmpoliticalreport.com/131921/heinrich-calls-on-obama-to-move-dakota-access-pipeline/?mc_cid=14d879af8b&mc_eid=4b85ca587f
Native Americans and others have protested pipeline over recent weeks over a fear that it would imperil the Standing Rock Sioux Nation’s only water source. The pipeline’s path was already moved once, from near Bismarck. Part of the reason was the risk to the city’s water supply. [see http://bismarcktribune.com/news/state-and-regional/pipeline-route-plan-first-called-for-crossing-north-of-bismarck/article_64d053e4-8a1a-5198-a1dd-498d386c933c.html ]
“Today is Thanksgiving and I cannot help but reflect on our history in these United States and how often it has not lived up to the rosy picture of Pilgrims and Indians sharing a meal in friendly company that I saw in textbooks as a child,” Heinrich said in a statement. “The issues facing Indian Country are many and they are complex, but that should not stop those of us in positions of elected leadership from seeking to make a difference wherever and whenever we can.”
“No pipeline is worth more than the respect we hold for our Native American neighbors,” Heinrich said. “No pipeline is worth more than the clean water that we all depend on. This pipeline is not worth the life of a single protester.”
Heinrich also addressed recent responses by police to protesters, which included national guard spraying protesters with cold water and several protesters going to the hospital.
“There is no excuse for the brutality we’ve seen in recent days and it should not be rewarded,” Heinrich said.
Earlier this week, the Democratic Party of New Mexico announced that it sent a letter of commitment to Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairman Dave Archambault, saying they stood with the tribe in their efforts to stop the pipeline from being built near the tribe’s water source.
The letter is signed by Debra Haaland, the first Native American state party chair in the nation. Haaland is a member of the Pueblo of Laguna.